YORK, PA -- Days after a fatal shooting across the street from York City Hall, officials gathered downtown Thursday to unveil a gun drop-off program and to plead with city parents to step up before another young person is gunned down.

Mayor Kim Bracey stood atop the steps of York's police station, just two blocks from where a teen was killed last week, to announce an anonymous gun drop-off program, to start immediately.

City residents can leave weapons at the site, 50 W. King St., with no consequences, she said.

"All I care about is that gun is out of the hands of a child," she said, "and off the streets of York."

The mayor spoke, she said, in the echo of a tragedy, and at the same time that "a mother is burying a son."

Joseph A. Gomez Jr., 17, of York, was shot and killed just after 1 p.m. on Saturday in the parking lot of the McDonald's on South George Street. Gomez died of multiple gunshot wounds, the coroner said. A viewing was scheduled for Thursday morning, according to his obituary.

Since the shooting, Flair Lamont Griggs, of the 800 block of West King Street, turned himself in to police.

The 16-year-old is being charged as an adult with criminal homicide and possession of a gun by a minor, police said.

Wes Kahley, the city's police chief, asked city residents on Thursday to step forward. He and Bracey challenged parents to question their children, and, when necessary, to approach authorities to help prevent violence.

"We're asking them to step forward before something tragic happens," Kahley said. "This is not about liking the police, necessarily, it's about trying to make our neighborhoods safe."

Carol Hill-Evans, city council president and the mayor's primary challenger, said that she supports the "opportunity" that an anonymous drop-off provides.

"Whatever we've been doing, it's not working," she said, adding to parents, "If you need help, ask for it, before it's too late."

Neighborhood Scout, a website run by Location Inc., recently ranked York as the 18th most violent city in the United States. Those statistics, from 2011, have been contested by some but cited by others, in the wake of several recent shootings.

Kahley has disputed the website's conclusion, saying the methodology is flawed.

Manuel Gomez, a Libertarian candidate for York City Council, challenged officials on their record and their official positions after the event, questioning the news conference's timing.

"Don't wait until a murder in the downtown district during election season to take action," he said.

In addition to the city police station, York's NAACP is now also offering a safe drop-off site for guns, according to local NAACP president Sandra Thompson. Residents - particularly those uncomfortable with city police - can bring weapons to 351 E. Princess St., she said, with no questions asked.

"We want to give people another alternative," she said.

Bishop Danny Evans, senior minister with Temple of Grace Ministries, spoke at the end of the news conference, offering a number to call for those who fear gun violence could be imminent.

We don't have to have so many tragic endings, the pastor said.

"Parents, stop sitting up until 3 a.m. Don't say I've lost my son to the streets." he said. "...It's time to wake up. Don't be so proud."